Paul Zollo
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Songwriter, author of `Songwriters on Songwriting,' 'Conversations with Tom Petty and many other books, photographer, Senior Editor of American Songwriter.
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Articles by Paul Zollo
Latest News, Stories, and Commentary
Get Maria McKee news, stories, and commentary from American Songwriter Magazine, the #1 source for music news since 1984
American Songwriter Throwback: 2011 Q&A with Honky Tonk Girl Loretta Lynn
The following article appeared in the 2011 print issue of American Songwriter. Some people are just born with it. With the gift for writing songs. Songs come to them, and they just need to write them down. It doesn’t take any agony or even much thought; it just takes time with a guitar alone to capture them as they fly by. That’s the case with Loretta Lynn. Right out of the gate, she wrote songs richer and deeper than the finest songs emerging out of Nashville.
A Look Back: "I Know What I Know"—Paul Simon on Songwriting (American Songwriter 2011 Cover Story)
Paul Simon hears voices. Or more specifically one voice, it’s the voice that gave him the phrase “so beautiful or so what.” A few years ago it became the title song of his most recent album.
Top Best Books About Songwriting to Read
1. Songwriters on Songwriting, 2. Melody in Songwriting, 3. The Songwriter's Workshop, 4. The Craft of Writing Lyrics, 5. How Music Really Works, 6. How to Become Hit Songwriters. Do you want to craft the best pop song ever but get stuck on melody and lyric writing? No worry; Toplist has compiled the best books about songwriting to read.
Behind the Song: "Coal Miner's Daughter" by Loretta Lynn
Remembering Loretta Lynn: Loretta Lynn passed away on October 4, peacefully in her sleep at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. She was 90. American Songwriter spoke to the legendary singer in 2020 about her popular song “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Read below for what she had to say about the iconic hit. “You can call me anytime,” says Miss Loretta, over the phone from her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
'Get Back' Is A How-To Manual For All Creatives
Revisit The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's' Album At 50 celebrating-beatles-sgt-peppers-50th-anniversary If ever there was one album every music lover should have in their collection, it would be the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Released in the United States on June 2, 1967, the album marked a sacred moment for music. Spanning 13 tracks at nearly 40 minutes, it represents the Beatles at their most creatively ambitious.
Behind The Song Lyrics: "Hello" by Adele
Written by Adele and Greg Kurstin, it started ‘Hello misery,’ until they revised it Both haunting and triumphant, “Hello” is pure Adele, powerful and vulnerable at once. Unlike the season of sorrow she endured due to a “rubbish romance,” which inspired so many of her early songs, she said she mostly felt happy writing these songs for her album 25. For “Hello,” she channeled ghosts of the past, and with co-writer Greg Kurstin created a masterpiece.
REVISED: Behind The Song: "Something So Right," by Paul Simon
This is a revision to our original story behind “Something So Right” by Paul Simon. Though I knew that Simon, in one of our many interviews, spoke about the birth of this song, I couldn’t find it anywhere. Until today, that is, when I realized it was not included in any of the published interviews we did, but from interviews I conducted and then adapted for the liner notes of Paul Simon 1964/1993, his first box set.
John Mellencamp Chooses Six Classic Movies As Guest Programmer for TCM
Starting tonight, this legendary songwriter shares the first three of his chosen classics John Mellencamp, in addition to being a beloved songwriter-singer, is also a gifted painter, and a serious cinefile. As such, he’s teamed up with TCM – Turner Classic Movies – on several projects, including the sponsorship of his forthcoming tour, the first time he’s had tour sponsorship.
The Late Great Norm McDonald on his Night with Bob Dylan
Norm McDonald, one of the most brilliant and singular comedians of our time, died on September 14, 2021 after a long battle with cancer, which he kept secret from most everyone. He was only 61. Born in Quebec City, Canada into a “dirt poor” farming family, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1993, and anchored the “Fake News,” as he dubbed it back then, Weekend Update, from 1994 to 1997.
Behind The Song: "Thursday's Child" by David Bowie
Written by Bowie & Reeves Gabrels, it’s the best Thursday song ever There are a bounty of great songs featuring days of the week. Saturday and Sunday – both sharing the weekend advantage – are the two days with the most songs. It’s Wednesday and Thursday – perhaps due to some kind of mid-week slump – that are the least represented.
Author/Historian/Friend Harvey Kubernik on Charlie's Impact
Harvey Kubernik (right) with Keith Richards HARVEY KUBERNIK: One of the great things about recording in Hollywood at RCA was after a session you’d walk into the car port and literally on the other side of the building was [jazz club] Shelly’s Manne-Hole,” Charlie revealed to me at a 2016 Stones’ Coachella Desert Trip tour rehearsal at Third Encore studios in Burbank, California.
New Box Set from The Beach Boys, ‘Feel Flows
Five CD collection celebrates and chronicles the band’s late ’60s/early ’70s era with 108 previously unreleased tracks, demos, live recordings, a capella tracks and more Los Angeles – August 27, 2021 – The Beach Boys new box set, Feel Flows – The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971, is out now; this one is to honor the 50th anniversary of the band’s timeless and often underappreciated albums, Sunflower and Surf’s Up. This expansive five-CD box set chronicles and explores in depth this...
A World Without Charlie, Part II: Out of My Head Over Charlie Watts By Marvin Etzioni
American Songwriter is happy to share this, the first of several reflections from songwriters & musicians on the impact of Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, who died yesterday. Marvin Etzioni is a wonderfully prolific and inspired songwriter, as well as a recording artist, founding member of Lone Justice, half of Thee Holy Brothers with Willie Aron, a Grammy Award-winning producer and music scholar.
Joshua Radin: An Artistic Turn
When Joshua Radin was a kid in Shaker Heights, he realized something which seemed obvious to him, yet no one his age seemed to register: that none of the current hits of the day compared to the great songs his parents often played. He was born in 1974 into a home always alive with the great music his parents loved: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Young, and Motown. It shaped his soul. When he started writing songs many years later, he returned to the source.
Songwriter U: Writer's Block, and How to Transcend it Forever, Part One
Face your fears. And stop empowering them. “There are ways,” said Bob Dylan, “that you can get out of whatever you’ve gotten into.” From our 1991 interview, he’s discussing ways of remaining creatively engaged so as to do good work, without slipping into the malaise of sameness, that uninspired sense that you’re spinning your wheels. As soon as that happens, Dylan advised, get off the main road. Take a detour. “You want to get out of it,” he said. “It’s bad enough getting into it.
PREMIERE: James McMurtry, "If It Don't Bleed"
The first single from his upcoming album The Horses and The Hounds, coming in August “Lyrically gritty, musically gutsy, go tell ‘em all- we need James McMurtry bringin’ us more.” —Andrew Farrris, INXS “James McMurtry may be the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation.” —Stephen King James McMurtry, “If It Don’t Bleed” “The ghost of Warren Zevon seems to be stomping around among the guitar tracks. Don’t know how he got in there.
Premiere: Ellen Foley, "Are You Good Enough?"
From her new solo album, ‘Fighting Words,’ with songs written by Paul Foglino. American Songwriter is proud to share this premiere of “Are You Good Enough?” from Ellen Foley’s 5th solo album Fighting Words. This and all songs on the album were written by the great Paul Foglino, former bassist-member of Five Chinese Brothers. When I received an advance of this album, I knew some but not all of the Ellen Foley story. A story unlike any other. Yet it didn’t matter.
In Honor of the 4th of July: Dave Alvin's "4th of July"
Dave Alvin with David Hidalgo & Flaco Jimenez, “4th of July” Happy 4th of July – AKA Independence Day – to all Americans here, there and everywhere, and any others anywhere who want to come to this party. As with every holiday – and every human event – there are many songs about the 4th of July. Some of them are expressions of pure praise for this sweet land of liberty; many others are not.
Listen to "105 Degrees," another previously- unreleased Tom Petty classic
From the new collection Angel Dream, the reimagined album of Tom’s songs for the movie She’s The One Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “105 Degrees” July 2, 2021 “What do you want? Perfection? What do you want? Perfection?” –Tom Petty When he was making Wildflowers, as his devoted fans know well, Tom Petty was on fire, creatively. It’s a fire that burned through his entire career – but this was different.
A Message from Ringo about his 81st Birthday plans on 7.7.21
Ringo’s Birthday Wish for 7.7.21 JUNE 28, 2021 — Today Ringo Starr posted a message to fans about his annual upcoming Peace and Love birthday initiative, a tradition he started in 2008 after being asked by a reporter what he would like for his birthday. His answer? Peace and Love. Since then he has invited everyone everywhere to think, say or post #peaceandlove at noon their local time on July 7th to fulfill his birthday wish and encircle the planet in a wave of Peace and Love.
Behind the Song: “Down South” by Tom Petty
From his third solo album ‘Highway Companion,’ it’s his second Southern masterpiece, and unlike all his other songs Of all of his songs, there were few that he spoke about with as much love and pride as “Down South.” The other contenders were “Southern Accents,” his first Southern masterpiece, “Insider,” “Wake Up Time” and “Angel Dream,” all songs he felt really excited about as soon as finishing them. All songs he knew came from another place, one which he couldn’t always reach.
Happy Paul McCartney's 79th Birthday: Even His Mumbo Junk Songs are Luminous
Most of the world knows of the greatness of his masterpieces. But here on his 79th birthday it’s worth noting that even his lesser songs by Paul McCartney always possessed a singular spark of greatness. “Of all the songwriters of our era,” Paul Simon said, “I think McCartney is the greatest melodist.” Sure, “greatest” is impossible to measure, but what is undeniable on his 79th birthday is that the man has created such a remarkable bounty of great melodies..
Another Reason to Rejoice: Trees of the Ages, Laura Nyro Live in Japan
Recorded live in Japan, 1994, it also features John Kruth’s great epic poem liner notes, which we are happy to share with you today It is the ideal moment for this album to arrive. It’s springtime again, and there is the joy of liberation in America and beyond as the long season of lockdown gloom and doom is slowly fading out. Again we can rejoice at being in the sunshine again, no longer on house arrest but free to take in nature again.
Gerry Beckley & Dewey Bunnell of America To Resume 50th Anniversary Tour Stalled by Pandemic
A conversation with the legendary songwriters on this long-awaited liberation from lockdown They are one of this world’s most beloved and iconic bands, and have been seriously missed during the long season of lockdown, which caused them to stop their 50th anniversary tour when it was just getting started.
The Black Keys Launch "Hill Country Blues" Playlist
To kick off the launch on Spotify, The Black Keys were tapped to curate a portion of the inaugural list “There would be no Black Keys without this music,” said Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. `Hill Country Blues’represents the concentric circle where we crossed over musically as teenagers.
Chrissie Hynde's New Rendition of "You're a Big Girl Now" by Bob Dylan
From ‘Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan,’ it kicks off our week-long celebration of Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday next Monday, May 24, 2021. Like much of humankind who lived in lockdown during the Corona nightmare year of 2020, Chrissie Hynde started feeling down. And then deeper down. Looking for meaning during the long season of bleakness, she found it in the new songs of an old friend, Bob Dylan.
John Lennon Estate Invites You to Relax, Breathe and Remember to “Hold On World”
Video showcases new Elements Mix, which highlights John’s vocals with two previously unused vocal tracks and muting of drums and bass.
Van Dyke Parks & Verónica Valerio Release the First Fruits of a Remarkable Collaboration
The two legends merge their music onVan Dyke Parks Orchestrates Verónica Valerio: Only in America Van Dyke Parks Orchestrates Verónica Valerio: Only in America. Artwork by Klaus Voormann “We’re not talking about music that punches you in the face,” says the legendary Van Dyke Parks about his new collaboration with singer-songwriter-harpist Verónica Valerio from Veracruz. “It’s part of a discovery. We found America and it does not stop in El Paso or begin in Juarez.
Mark Ronson on Songwriting with Lady Gaga
On writing “Shallow” together Mark Ronson, who has famously written great songs with a big range of powerful artists (Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and beyond), said each collaboration is a different dynamic. “Sometimes I have to bring a lot – maybe the whole melody, or a full lyric. Other times I don’t have to do much, I just make suggestions. “Working with Gaga,” said Mark Ronson, “is like getting strapped into the space station.
'Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom' Opens At Woody Guthrie Center in May
“The Ballad of George Floyd” by Chicago’s Dave Specter is Featured “If it hadn’t been for music, the civil rights movement would’ve been like a bird without wings.” –John Lewis That quote from John Lewis speaks directly to the power of song, one of mankind’s oldest forces of unity. Woody Guthrie exemplified this force throughout his life; to Woody, the airwaves were sacred, and songwriters had an obligation to write songs which lifted people up, and to give them wings of hope.
Happy Birthday Peter Case: A Celebration of The Long Good Time
Peter Case, Highway 62 “I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose… Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard travelling. I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood.
Behind the Song: "I'd Have You Anytime" by George Harrison & Bob Dylan
Written with Dylan in Woodstock, 1968, it’s the first song on George’s first solo album, All Things Must Pass, featuring Eric Clapton George Harrison, “I’d Have You Anytime” All of The Beatles were fans of Dylan, even before they met in 1964. But of all of them, it was George who became a close, lifelong friend. Any interview with George in his last decade almost always includes quotations from songs by “the man,” as George referred to him.
New Documentary Reveals Bizarre Truth: Dave Koz is an Elaborate Hoax Perpetrated by British Actor
The Grammy Award-winning saxophonist is not a real person, but a character created and performed by Sir Richard Leighton In his new documentary, Dr. Norm, filmmaker Ben Kadie reveals a bizarre and shocking truth about a beloved, Grammy Award-winning musician: The saxophonist “Dave Koz” is not a real person, but an elaborate hoax perpetrated by veteran British actor Sir Richard Leighton.
Songwriter U: Deconstructing Songwriting Malarkey, Part II
In Deconstructing Songwriting Malarkey, Part I, the start of our antidote to the epidemic of online songwriting misinformation, we discussed many unreliable sources of songwriting information to be avoided. These sites have names which make them seem altruistic, such as CareersInMusic, which offers detailed, specific advice to inform and empower songwriters with knowledge. Unfortunately, it’s fake knowledge and strange advice.
Chris Cornell's Wife Releases His Final Album on LP, featuring his cover of Lennon's "Watching The Wheels"
Chris’ rendition, like the entire No One Sings Like You Anymore album, is beautifully joyful yet heartbreaking Two dreamers: Chris Cornell with the statue of John Lennon, which is in Havana, Cuba’s John Lennon Park. Sculpted by the Cuban artist José Villa Soberón, it has removable spectacles, which have been stolen several times.
Songwriter U: Deconstructing Songwriting Malarkey
SONGWRITERS BEWARE! On the epidemic of erroneous online advice to songwriters In a perfect world, the birth of the World Wide Web thirty years ago, which offered humans non-stop immediate access to all known knowledge and wisdom, could have resulted in a profound expansion of human intelligence and empathy, forging a true age of enlightenment. But it was not to be. In fact, it has had the opposite effect. Instead of human harmony we are engulfed in dissonance.
Bob Malone Delivers the Most Funkafied "Tangled Up In Blue" Ever
The “keyboard wizard” and ten-year veteran of John Fogerty’s band has recorded his famously inspired, incendiary rendition of the Dylan classic at long last Bob Malone is a famously funky force of nature. That he’s a musician of soulful multitudes was a well-kept secret in L.A. for a few years, as musicians and civilians alike would speak in awe of this Jersey boy with the amazing piano chops who sang like Dr. John and wrote hip, romantic songs of his own.
Marvin Etzioni Shares "goodbye old friend," a New Song Written for his Old Friend, Don Heffington
Old Friends Don Heffington & Marvin Etzioni By MARVIN ETZIONI Don Heffington passed away this morning. If Don heard the news, he might quote one of his own songs by saying, “That’s Hollywood.” We first met in 1982 through a mutual friend, Steve Fishell. They were both in the Emmylou HarrisHot Band. I had never heard Don play drums before, but as soon as I met him, I knew he would be the drummer for Lone Justice.
In Loving Honor of Don Heffington
Friends & fellow musicians share their thoughts on this beloved man and his music Don Heffington with John Prine, backstage at Greek Theater after John’s concert, May, 2016. Photo by Paul Zollo/American Songwriter The music communities of Los Angeles, Nashville and beyond are in some shock, struggling with the sorrowful news that another great and beloved musician and friend is gone. The great Don Heffington left us to start his next great adventure on March 23, 2021.
Behind the Song: "Wake Up Time," by Tom Petty « American Songwriter
Tom in his own words on this essential song which was the finale of Wildflowers. Wildflowers. Already it’s the stuff of legends. After already ascending to the toppermost repeatedly with remarkably authentic, heartfelt real-time rock and roll, forever evolving but never abandoning that essential fire, he returned back with his own White Album/Blonde on Blonde, a phenomenal tour de force of songwriting greatness exploding in every direction at once.
On the Very First Song Ever Sung by Peter, Paul & Mary « American Songwriter
We had the great privilege and fun of interviewing Noel Paul Stookey yesterday, via Zoom, for our new video series soon to premiere, American Songwriter’s Songlife. We spoke about his great new album, Just Causes, on which he has designated each song to benefit a different cause. Yesterday he played part of “Revolution” for us, his new song about a revolution of kindness, when people learn to invest more kindness into our world. Again, it’s about harmony.
Songwriter U: Reverse Engineering, Part I « American Songwriter
On the invaluable knowledge gained from “reverse engineering” a song to discover its inner structure It’s maybe the most practical, instructive and consequential way of learning how to write songs. It’s also one of the easiest and most fun. It’s something songwriters have always done, although they call it by many names. To legendary lyricist Sammy Cahn and others, it’s “learning the architecture of a song.” To others, it’s “getting under the hood” of a song.
Songwriter U: Every Word Matters « American Songwriter
Featuring songs by Tom Petty, Livingston & Evans, Paul Simon and Leiber & Stoller Because the song is such a short form, a mere handful of minutes, every word matters. Changing a single word in a lyric is monumental, because it can shift the meaning and tone of a song profoundly. Yet sometimes it is that one word change that makes all the difference, and without which the song might never have succeeded in the same way. There are several examples over the decades. 1.
Ringo Gives Press Conference Today to Launch his new EP, Zoom In « American Songwriter
Ringo Starr on Zoom today, March 18, 2021, talking about peace, love, lockdown, family, friends, and his new EP, released today, ‘Zoom In.’ Ringo Starr, now 80 and somehow looking younger than ever, just wrapped up a Zoom conference call with press from around the world to announce today’s release of Zoom In, a new five-song EP he made mostly remotely. Ringo Starr, Zoom In, the new EP, available today.
REVIEW: Marvin Etzioni on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – The Ultimate Collection « American Songwriter
Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter Marvin Etzioni on the impact & legacy of Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, and the new Ultimate Collection By the time John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released in 1970, Lennon’s band, The Beatles, had taken over the world. There was nothing bigger. There was nothing better. With POB, Lennon takes a pin to the sky and pops the bubble.
PHOTO GALLERY: A Remembrance of Grammys Past « American Songwriter
With Rihanna, Dave Grohl & Foo Fighters, Herbie Hancock, Green Day, Robert Plant, Dweezil Zappa, and Taylor Swift All photos by Paul Zollo/American Songwriter Rihanna, 2008. It was the year of “Umbrella,” for which she received several nominations, including Record of the Year, which she did not win, as well as Best Sung/Rap performance, which she did win. Written by Terius “Dream” Nash, “Umbrella” was nominated for Best Song, but lost to “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson.
Grammys 2021: James Taylor Wins Grammy for American Standard « American Songwriter
Including JT’s delightful video from the ski slopes accepting this award during first-ever virtual Grammys James & Kim Taylor on the Slopes Legendary songwriter, hero and song champion James Taylor won his sixth Grammy award last night, though his first for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for American Standard, a beautifully timeless love-letter to songwriting itself and to all songwriters.
Grammys, 2021: H.E.R. Wins Song of the Year for "I Can't Breathe," co-written with Dernst Emile & Tiara Thomas « American Songwriter
H.E.R. also won the Best R&B Song Grammy for “Better Than I Imagine,” written with Meshell Ndegeocello & Robert Glasper For the second year in a row, the Grammy for Song of the Year went to a song recorded in a bedroom. Following “Bad Guy,” the 2020 Song of the Year by Billie Eilish and Finneas, recorded in his bedroom, the Song of the Year, 2021 is “I Can’t Breathe,” by H.E.R. She wrote it with Dernst Emile and Tiara Thomas, and recorded it in her room at her mom’s house.
Grammys, 2021: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Win Grammy for Best Folk Album for 'All The Good Times.' « American Songwriter
Grammys, 2021: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have won the 2021 Grammy for Best Folk Album for their wonderful album of cool covers, All The Good Times at The 63rd GRAMMY Awards. The album is a collection of ten acoustic covers recorded at home on a reel-to-reel and contains songs by Bob Dylan, John Prine, Elizabeth Cotten, and Norman Blake, as well as new arrangements of traditional songs (full tracklisting below).
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